Protective structures for vehicles are generally known and are necessary for protecting vehicle occupants during a crash. For example, car doors are required to have a side impact structure installed in the interior of the door which extends along the length of the door. The purpose of the impact structure is to reinforce the automobile paneling on which the structures are installed and to absorb some of the forces generated during a crash to protect passengers seated adjacent to the doors. These structures are usually beams of various shapes. A protective beam for a vehicle must have sufficient strength to adequately protect the passengers of the vehicle during the crash in addition to having a specific yield or failure point so that crash loads can be dynamically absorbed.
A typical protective beam is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 7,041,193, which consists of a tubular bar positioned from front to rear in a vehicle door. The structure includes a two-piece bracket in the middle of the bar that may be affixed to the bar by use of a curable adhesive. Brackets for interconnecting the bar and the door are attached to the ends of the tubular bar. The disadvantage of prior protective structures, such as those disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 7,041,193, are the complex designs of the parts of the assembly, as well as the inability to allow fixturing movement during assembly before the final cure.